The Code came into force in May 2005 and was initially drawn up to replace the codes Ofcom had inherited from its predecessors – including the Broadcasting Standards Commission and the Independent Television Commission.

It had to take into account the dramatic changes that had affected TV and radio. The UK was no longer a country with just four or five TV stations and the majority of homes now had access to many more digital TV and radio channels.

The Code was drawn up following extensive research amongst viewers, listeners and broadcasters – and we received more than 900 responses to our public consultation.

Since 2005 the Code has been revised a number of times. Ofcom has clarified rules around audience competitions and voting, amended rules on the broadcast of sexual material, and added new rules on product placement, and on hate speech and abusive content. In April 2017 certain sections of the Code were extended to cover BBC programmes.

There's a whole section of the Broadcasting Code dedicated to protecting children from unsuitable content on TV and radio, including rules about the 9pm watershed on TV.

There are also rules about the times broadcasters choose to schedule their programmes, as well as restrictions on programmes broadcast before the watershed that include offensive language, violence, sexual material, and dangerous or harmful behaviour that children might try to copy.

The video on demand rules protect children from "specially restricted material", which is material that has been or would be classified in the R18 category by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)) or other material which might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of under-18s and "prohibited material" which has been, or would be, refused a classification by the BBFC).